Should We Be Using Technology With Our Students?
by Eleanor Cawley
President & Sr. Occupational Therapist
Ms. Eleanor's Apples
631-271-1892
I recently read an online article from the New York Times 11/01/2012 'Technology Changing How Students Learn, Teachers Say' by Matt Richtel. (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/education/technology-is-changing-how-students-learn-teachers-say.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
)
Some of the elements in the article suggest a globally negative opinion of technology and its impact on a student's ability to sustain attention in the classroom during a lesson. It goes so far as to say that one teacher feels she needs to entertain her students in order for them to attend and learn. Mr. Richtel takes his information from a study using the survey method of investigation.
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/children-teens-and-entertainment-media-the-view-from-the-classroom/key-finding-1%3A-media-use-impacts-academic-performance
While surveys are typically subjective, there were other facets of this study that were equally as interesting. With the push toward STEM courses, 51-54% of the teachers responding indicated that students' skills have been getting better in the areas of math and science while 22-26% indicated that they are getting worse. 39-46% of teachers responding indicate that students' skills in reading, verbal communication and writing have been getting better. 31-39% indicated that they are getting worse. The study also goes on to state that "Teachers who say they are 'uncomfortable' with new technologies are more likely to see negative effects of students' media use on social development."
This study indicated that 63% of teachers report that "media use has helped their [student's] ability to find information quickly." The article also goes on to state that "teachers described what might be called a 'Wikipedia problem', in which students have grown so accustomed to getting quick answers..."
So here is my response: I feel that no matter what a person's comfort level with technology or social media, it is here to stay. We, as parents,educators and therapists, need to find ways to monitor what our children are doing on these sites. Teachers, in particular, have a unique advantage of shaping a child's media use. If we give a child an iPad without downloading and teaching the use of appropriate apps, then the device will be used as a toy and not a study tool. Teachers should be sharing information with each other and recommending apps and websites to parents to use with their child to support learning and homework completion. I feel that we need to adjust our focus and as professionals, guide the parent in the direction of using technology as a learning tool. As far as the "quick answers" go, if all we ask is a simple answer then that is what we will get. STEM course are using technology to help students get to the salient issues and develop a response based on the data collected. That is where we need to be going.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFcUgSYyRPg
I, for one, would be happy to research apps, websites and additional technologies to help a teacher support his or her students' work. Tablets, Android devices, iPads, iPhones and iPods are here to stay. Let's use them to engage and support our students. Technology is not going away and students do not learn by osmosis. So let's not knock it and let's embrace it. I would be happy to provide a free 30 minute phone consult to any teacher looking to support a students' learning through technology. 631-271-1892
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Occupational Therapy and
Technology for Clients with Disabilities
By Eleanor Cawley
President & Senior Occupational Therapist
Ms. Eleanor’s Apples
eleanorot@mseleanorsapples.com
Working with clients with disabilities is often as fun as it is challenging. It is very rewarding, particularly when he or she achieves a goal that the client has contributed to. Sometimes, it is difficult to figure out what that goal or task might be, other times, he or she figures out how to tell you. It might be as simple as tying shoes or as difficult as cooking a meal. In my opinion, cooking a meal is more difficult due to the safety issues involved. Another concern is the method that we teach them to do the task and communicating that successfully to both the client and the caregiver.
In therapy sessions, it is often helpful to create a video of the task with the client. It is also helpful to provide some sort of prompt schedule. Both methods are recommended for each task, I would like to discuss the video component first. Videos become important for the following reasons:
1. The therapist becomes the model for the caregiver and the client.
2. The caregiver can learn the prompts that the therapist uses to help the client learn to complete the targeted task.
3. The client can review the task as it was learned and problem areas can be addressed.
4. Generalization of the task to other areas, locations and included in other larger tasks, i.e., shoe tying as part of dressing in the morning.
Let’s take the example of shoe tying. A client [with Autism and limited language skills] is trying to tie his shoes. The client becomes perseverative [repetitive] at the knot tying step. For the therapist, it is clear that the shoe tying method needs to be adapted so that the client can circumvent the step or move past the step. Prompts need to be individualized so that the client can consistently follow the steps. A method of demonstrating the task by the therapist is important for the caregiver and an additional segment with the client completing the task is reinforcing. Clients are often proud of accomplishments and their ability to successfully communicate the desire to achieve that task. He or she will demonstrate their pride by watching the video over and over. This may also become perseverative and it is important to build on each new success.
Videos with the therapist, as instructor, should be made from the client’s perspective. In other words, the camera should be placed above the shoe and the shoe should be positioned so that it is in the same direction as when the client will tie the shoe. The heel of the shoe, or back of the shoe, should be toward the client or bottom of the viewing screen. In that way, the hand movements appear the same, as if the client were moving his or her hands. A tripod becomes very important part of each therapist’s bag or tricks. Videos can also be inserted into a PowerPoint presentation which maybe the caregiver’s preferred method of prompts.
The next step is to develop prompts [verbal, visual, and/or gestural] that will trigger the correct motor response from the client. For the shoe tying client, it was important to circumvent the initial knot when tying the shoe. A knot was placed at the point of pinch to form the loops. Using the double loop method of shoe tying, the client was prompted to pinch the knots; make two loops; make an “X” with the loops; then one loop goes over the other through the space (bottom of the “X” created by the loops) then pull. Hold the loops; make an “X” with the loops; one loop over the other; through the space and pull. Once the client is successful in the task, the video is made of the client completing the task.
When developing the prompts, the method of delivery becomes an important factor to determine. A number of methods are available from simple technology [pencil, paper and scissors] to tablets, iPads and computers. Whatever method is chosen should be easy to use and modify by both therapist and caregiver. These methods can include:
1. Acronyms
2. Simple list
3. Checklist
4. Simple line drawings of each step on a prompt board.
5. True object pictures [photographs] of each step, again, on a prompt board.
6. True object pictures in a PowerPoint program with or without a video.
7. Using a tablet and app to develop prompts using pictures or graphics.
The method of training should also be explored, remain consistent and included in the video. The methods can be a forward chaining model in which the steps are taught from beginning to end. Another method is called backward chaining. In backward chaining, the steps are completed by the trainer from the beginning and the client completes the last step. As the client becomes more successful, the next to the last step is added to the training and so on. There is also the consideration of a schedule of reinforcement, if required. This should be discussed with other team members including the caregiver.
So as you can see, working with clients with a disability can be as rewarding as it is challenging. With organization and planning, clients with a disability can achieve great success. We need to be very organized, patient, encouraging and kind in addition to being firm in our expectations. Therapists also need to be adaptable and look for clues as to what our clients want to learn. The more open a therapist is to his or her client, the more successful the client becomes.
Technology for Clients with Disabilities
By Eleanor Cawley
President & Senior Occupational Therapist
Ms. Eleanor’s Apples
eleanorot@mseleanorsapples.com
Working with clients with disabilities is often as fun as it is challenging. It is very rewarding, particularly when he or she achieves a goal that the client has contributed to. Sometimes, it is difficult to figure out what that goal or task might be, other times, he or she figures out how to tell you. It might be as simple as tying shoes or as difficult as cooking a meal. In my opinion, cooking a meal is more difficult due to the safety issues involved. Another concern is the method that we teach them to do the task and communicating that successfully to both the client and the caregiver.
In therapy sessions, it is often helpful to create a video of the task with the client. It is also helpful to provide some sort of prompt schedule. Both methods are recommended for each task, I would like to discuss the video component first. Videos become important for the following reasons:
1. The therapist becomes the model for the caregiver and the client.
2. The caregiver can learn the prompts that the therapist uses to help the client learn to complete the targeted task.
3. The client can review the task as it was learned and problem areas can be addressed.
4. Generalization of the task to other areas, locations and included in other larger tasks, i.e., shoe tying as part of dressing in the morning.
Let’s take the example of shoe tying. A client [with Autism and limited language skills] is trying to tie his shoes. The client becomes perseverative [repetitive] at the knot tying step. For the therapist, it is clear that the shoe tying method needs to be adapted so that the client can circumvent the step or move past the step. Prompts need to be individualized so that the client can consistently follow the steps. A method of demonstrating the task by the therapist is important for the caregiver and an additional segment with the client completing the task is reinforcing. Clients are often proud of accomplishments and their ability to successfully communicate the desire to achieve that task. He or she will demonstrate their pride by watching the video over and over. This may also become perseverative and it is important to build on each new success.
Videos with the therapist, as instructor, should be made from the client’s perspective. In other words, the camera should be placed above the shoe and the shoe should be positioned so that it is in the same direction as when the client will tie the shoe. The heel of the shoe, or back of the shoe, should be toward the client or bottom of the viewing screen. In that way, the hand movements appear the same, as if the client were moving his or her hands. A tripod becomes very important part of each therapist’s bag or tricks. Videos can also be inserted into a PowerPoint presentation which maybe the caregiver’s preferred method of prompts.
The next step is to develop prompts [verbal, visual, and/or gestural] that will trigger the correct motor response from the client. For the shoe tying client, it was important to circumvent the initial knot when tying the shoe. A knot was placed at the point of pinch to form the loops. Using the double loop method of shoe tying, the client was prompted to pinch the knots; make two loops; make an “X” with the loops; then one loop goes over the other through the space (bottom of the “X” created by the loops) then pull. Hold the loops; make an “X” with the loops; one loop over the other; through the space and pull. Once the client is successful in the task, the video is made of the client completing the task.
When developing the prompts, the method of delivery becomes an important factor to determine. A number of methods are available from simple technology [pencil, paper and scissors] to tablets, iPads and computers. Whatever method is chosen should be easy to use and modify by both therapist and caregiver. These methods can include:
1. Acronyms
2. Simple list
3. Checklist
4. Simple line drawings of each step on a prompt board.
5. True object pictures [photographs] of each step, again, on a prompt board.
6. True object pictures in a PowerPoint program with or without a video.
7. Using a tablet and app to develop prompts using pictures or graphics.
The method of training should also be explored, remain consistent and included in the video. The methods can be a forward chaining model in which the steps are taught from beginning to end. Another method is called backward chaining. In backward chaining, the steps are completed by the trainer from the beginning and the client completes the last step. As the client becomes more successful, the next to the last step is added to the training and so on. There is also the consideration of a schedule of reinforcement, if required. This should be discussed with other team members including the caregiver.
So as you can see, working with clients with a disability can be as rewarding as it is challenging. With organization and planning, clients with a disability can achieve great success. We need to be very organized, patient, encouraging and kind in addition to being firm in our expectations. Therapists also need to be adaptable and look for clues as to what our clients want to learn. The more open a therapist is to his or her client, the more successful the client becomes.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Lights Out! Four Days and counting...
My Dream
It is times like these that seem to draw out the best in me. While waiting out Hurricane Sandy, I have been spending my time getting all fired up about my life and the realization that I need to make some serious changes. I really would like to be my own boss and have a small business with a number of employees.
My dream is to have an after school homework center, where students of all ages, would come and get the help they needed from qualified staff. I would, however, insist that they all learn to complete homework using technology. All homework would be completed using a computer. My students would learn touch typing and achieve proficiency standards. All my students would be proficient in using spreadsheets and data base programming to enter and manipulate data. My college bound students would be tech savvy and ready for college. My students would learn problem solving skills and be challenged daily to come up with creative solutions. My students would not just be struggling students, but all students, from students with special needs to honor students. My student would be your child and every child.
There are highly skilled teachers and IT techs out there with no work. There is a multitude of hard workers out there for support staff. Most of all, there are students, of all shapes, sizes and skill levels, who would need the type of services a company like mine could provide. Who am I to think that I could accomplish this enormous feat! I am an occupational therapist, that’s who! Occupational therapists concentrate on the skills to get the job done.
The Presidential Election is only one week away. I happened to be on Facebook about a week ago. Someone commented on needing manufacturing jobs in the community and how one candidate over another might get manufacturing jobs back in her community. I happen to feel that the resolution to our problems is in our future and not our past. I feel that in order to build a stable economy we have to teach our children to develop problem solving skills and new technologies. The mindset of “Made in the USA” is returning stronger than ever. We just can’t rely on bringing back jobs and technologies that were outsourced. We need to develop new technologies and manufacturing procedures for American workers. Never outsource again.
My response to her includes a grand idea of creating bubbles to cover each of our homes with Hurricane Sandy bearing down on us. We could watch the storm but it would never affect us. We could harness that wind and water energy and provide power to our homes, schools and businesses.
I personally feel that Americans are smart and creative. Could our children come up with new ideas, technologies and manufacturing procedures to create such a device? I believe that they can. Our jobs, right now, would be to create an environment for learning and problem solving. My job would be to find young and young at heart, innovative educators who can excite and engage students enough to become this creative. Students who could develop new construction techniques, building homes that can morph into protective domes with a never ending clean energy power supply so that the power never goes out again.
Meteorologists, like Bill Evans and Lee Goldberg, would be announcing with excitement, “Domes Up!” We would never again be afraid of a Sandy or a Long Island Express. We would relish them. That is my dream.
It is times like these that seem to draw out the best in me. While waiting out Hurricane Sandy, I have been spending my time getting all fired up about my life and the realization that I need to make some serious changes. I really would like to be my own boss and have a small business with a number of employees.
My dream is to have an after school homework center, where students of all ages, would come and get the help they needed from qualified staff. I would, however, insist that they all learn to complete homework using technology. All homework would be completed using a computer. My students would learn touch typing and achieve proficiency standards. All my students would be proficient in using spreadsheets and data base programming to enter and manipulate data. My college bound students would be tech savvy and ready for college. My students would learn problem solving skills and be challenged daily to come up with creative solutions. My students would not just be struggling students, but all students, from students with special needs to honor students. My student would be your child and every child.
There are highly skilled teachers and IT techs out there with no work. There is a multitude of hard workers out there for support staff. Most of all, there are students, of all shapes, sizes and skill levels, who would need the type of services a company like mine could provide. Who am I to think that I could accomplish this enormous feat! I am an occupational therapist, that’s who! Occupational therapists concentrate on the skills to get the job done.
The Presidential Election is only one week away. I happened to be on Facebook about a week ago. Someone commented on needing manufacturing jobs in the community and how one candidate over another might get manufacturing jobs back in her community. I happen to feel that the resolution to our problems is in our future and not our past. I feel that in order to build a stable economy we have to teach our children to develop problem solving skills and new technologies. The mindset of “Made in the USA” is returning stronger than ever. We just can’t rely on bringing back jobs and technologies that were outsourced. We need to develop new technologies and manufacturing procedures for American workers. Never outsource again.
My response to her includes a grand idea of creating bubbles to cover each of our homes with Hurricane Sandy bearing down on us. We could watch the storm but it would never affect us. We could harness that wind and water energy and provide power to our homes, schools and businesses.
I personally feel that Americans are smart and creative. Could our children come up with new ideas, technologies and manufacturing procedures to create such a device? I believe that they can. Our jobs, right now, would be to create an environment for learning and problem solving. My job would be to find young and young at heart, innovative educators who can excite and engage students enough to become this creative. Students who could develop new construction techniques, building homes that can morph into protective domes with a never ending clean energy power supply so that the power never goes out again.
Meteorologists, like Bill Evans and Lee Goldberg, would be announcing with excitement, “Domes Up!” We would never again be afraid of a Sandy or a Long Island Express. We would relish them. That is my dream.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)